Cross-border cooperation in the Don basin: closed “window of opportunities”

CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION IN THE DON BASIN: CLOSED “WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITIES”

The experience of cooperation between the Siverskyi Donets Basin Administration of Water Resources of Ukraine and the Don Basin Water Administration of Russia goes back to the 1980s.

One of the initial stages of working out the interaction principles can be based on the experience gained at that time in passing floods and emptying wastewater reservoirs of chemical enterprises located in Ukraine, depending on the expected amount of floods needed for dilution and to comply with the MAC in the border sections.

The 1992 Agreement between the governments of the two countries on the joint use and protection of transboundary water bodies, including in the Siverskyi Donets river basin, defined the basic principles of water sharing, maintenance of hydraulic and water protection structures, implementation of recovery and conservation measures, conservation and recovery of bioresources, arrangements for monitoring of the surface water status, regular exchange of information and projections on flood development, as well as the expected water content in the low-water period. Commissioners and their deputies were appointed to implement the Agreement. During Agreement implementation, the procedure for organizing water management in the Siverskyi Donets basin was agreed upon, a program of joint control over the hydrochemical condition of water bodies was implemented, and requirements for compliance with hydrological and hydrochemical parameters at the border stations were established. Issues which concerned the interests of the adjacent states, such as the determining of regimes for filling and operation of reservoirs during floods and summer-autumn lows, operation of wastewater storages, indicators of water balances, construction of water facilities, were addressed only after mutual agreement.

Meetings at the Deputy Commissioner level were held at least twice a year, working meetings of experts were held on specific issues, and the Siverskyi Donets basin working group included specialists of state ecological services, centers for sanitary inspection, geology and subsoil use, hydrometeorology, fish inspection, scientific and design organizations. Quarterly information was exchanged on the results of water quality observations at 10 border stations on 3 basin rivers, including 8 stations on the Siverskyi Donets river.

During floods, as well as in cases of declining water levels in Ukraine, hydrological data were transmitted weekly or daily.

The system of administrative decision-making support created through the efforts of both states increased the parties’ awareness, made their activities transparent and predictable, and allowed for coordination of their efforts in decision formulation.

The Agreement identified possible accident situations, which required joint efforts for their prevention and response. Pro-active joint actions during the 1994 flood allowed for flooding of the Siverskyi Donets floodplains in the Donetsk and the Luhansk regions in the areas of underground drinking water intakes, thus reducing flood damages in other parts of the Don basin. In 1995, joint measures helped reduce pollution of the Siverskyi Donets river following a major accident at Kharkiv’s treatment facilities, prevent deterioration of water quality in the Rostov Region, and ensure stable operation of the Donetsk, Kamiansk, and Bila Kalytva water intakes. An example of cooperation was repeated addressing of difficult situations on the Mius river, where even a slight flow rate increase raises the water level, causing flooding of residential communities in Russia.

Finally, when draining of the Pechenihy reservoir, on which Kharkiv’s water supply depended, became critical in the extremely low-water summer season, the Russian side agreed to augment the flow from the Belgorod reservoir to help stabilize the situation. To develop cooperation within the framework of the interstate agreement, it was proposed to conclude an Agreement on the Kundriucha river, the need for which was dictated by presence of drinking water-grade reservoirs on this river near Russia. The Agreement was signed by representatives of the regional administrations of the Luhansk and the Rostov regions in 1999.

Source: UNECE. Water Series No. 4. Transboundary Water Cooperation: Trends in the Newly Independent States. New York and Geneva, 2006. https://unece.org/DAM/env/water/publications/documents/ waterseries4_r.pdf

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